Bill to have all Russians fingerprinted and DNA profiled submitted to parliament

MPs from the populist nationalist party LDPR have prepared and drafted a motion requiring universal fingerprinting and DNA profiling of all Russian citizens for reasons of security.

The main sponsor of the bill is Roman Khudyakov, known for
previously wanting the urban population of the country, including
visitors and foreigners, to be fingerprinted. This time the
lawmaker opted for the “biometrical registration” of all
Russians, which essentially means fingerprinting and
DNA-profiling of everyone. The information would be held in a
central government database and each citizen would be provided
with the details on a so called “bio-card.” The bill
suggests the setting up of a special federal agency in charge of
the biometrical scanning, reporting either to the Interior
Ministry or to the Federal Security Service, the FSB.

In comments to the popular daily Izvestia, Khudyakov urged his
plan be put into practice as soon as possible saying that it
would help law enforcers and society. The politician said that in
the near future the program would allow the scrapping of other
forms of ID and significantly cut red tape. In addition he
assured reporters that ordinary Russians should not fear over the
security of their personal data.

“All information will be protected. It is like a bank card.
We will also toughen the criminal responsibility for officials
who have access to the data. When people face three years in
prison for leaking the data no one would be tempted to do
this,” he said.

Khudyakov also suggests keeping the data for 150 years from the
date of collection, and then it would be destroyed. The biometric
cards of the dead could be kept by state agencies for the same
period of time and then disposed of.

The bill allows for voluntary biometrical registration by
citizens, and by parents for their children, in which case the
applicants will have to pay for it. However, the procedure will
be obligatory and free for all civil servants, law enforcers,
military and security personnel, convicts, firemen, rescuers and
people applying for a driving license or gun permit. Biometrical
scanning will be done for those who want to travel abroad and for
foreigners who arrive in Russia and also for many other
categories. Experts have noted that if introduced the procedure
would cover all Russian residents over age of 14.

At present Russian law enforcers use the Automated Fingerprint
Identification System or ADIS to hold data on convicted criminals
and military personnel.

The universal and obligatory fingerprinting was suggested by
Russia’s top prosecutor Aleksandr Bastrykin in 2010, but
lawmakers put off a decision citing the high costs of the system
and the need to ensure its legality.